Lesson 268 - Junior
Memory Verse
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10).
Notes
The Lord's Day
Before one can observe the Lord's Day, he must know which day that is. The term, Lord's Day, was used in [REV:1:10], by John, no doubt referring to Sunday, the first day of the week. John was in exile, away from other Christians, but he was in the spirit of worship and reverence when the Lord met him there.
Christ arose on the first day of the week. Several times He met with the disciples on the first day of the week. The disciples met on Sunday to break bread together [ACT:20:7]) and to bring their offerings unto the Lord [1CO:16:2]). The Lord gave His approval of the first day by blessing His people who worshiped on Sunday and by sending His Spirit on the first day of the week upon those who were praying in an upper room on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Christ's resurrection. It was accepted as the day of worship immediately after the resurrection of Christ and has been observed by all true Christians from that time down to the present day.
The Jewish people kept the Sabbath Day, the seventh day of the week. Under the Law, it was a day of worship and rest, dedicated to honour God. The Sabbath was the day set aside in which to worship the Lord. Under the Law, the Jewish Sabbath was Saturday. God is to be served and honoured each day, but this one-day is dedicated particularly to the honour of God.
For Man
Jesus taught that, "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" [MAK:2:27]). Man was made before the Sabbath. Man was made by God and for God -" to honour and serve God [COL:1:16]). The Lord hallowed and sanctified the Sabbath for the good and benefit of man. A day of rest and worship is profitable to both the body and the soul of man.
We work six days -" many people for their own interest -" and the other day of the week we owe to God. This day should be set apart, different from the others, in which we can forget the cares and responsibilities of our daily work and can give ourselves to think of the Lord and to speak of Him in a greater measure.
The Fourth Commandment
Moses, the leader of the Children of Israel, received the Law from God on Mount Sinai. Included in the Law were the Ten Commandments. One of those commandments, the fourth, concerns the Sabbath Day. It is: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" [EXO:20:8]). The Lord explained to Moses and the Children of Israel that there were six days in which to do their work but the seventh day of the week was a day of rest. "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it" [EXO:20:11]).
In this day of rest, peace, and quiet, they were to remember that they had been servants in Egypt but the Lord had brought them out "through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm" [DEU:5:15]).
A Day of Rest
The Lord said concerning this day, "Thou shalt not do any work." This was to be a day of rest for all -" even the children, the servants, the stranger, and the animals -" that they might "be refreshed" [EXO:23:12]). When Sunday is spent in attending religious services, in reading the Bible, in praying, and in speaking of the Lord, one is refreshed both physically and spiritually. His soul is fed and blessed. His body is rested from the usual labour. When Sunday is spent doing work that should be done during the week, or when Sunday is spent in seeking worldly entertainment, one's soul is starved and one's body is tired and worn out to start the new week of work.
Death Penalty
To keep the Sabbath holy was a commandment of the Lord, and He expects His people to obey. Under the Law, there was a severe penalty for disregarding the Sabbath. We read that "every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people" [EXO:31:14]). Today, those who persist in disregarding Sunday will find that they are not only spiritually starved but they are spiritually dead.
In years past, our whole nation kept the Lord's Day holy. Stores were closed, work ceased in the fields, and nearly everyone went to church to worship God. Laws, which would punish the one who desecrated the Lord's Day were passed in many states. According to the laws of the land, people were required to honour the Lord's Day. God honoured our nation for so doing as He honours those who honour Him. In the present day, Satan has hardened the hearts of many people and turned them from God. Many people are seeking their own pleasure and are demanding that the Sunday laws of the land be cancelled.
Today it is not unusual to see men working in the fields and in business houses, doing all manner of work; and God is not pleased. It has been proved that men do not prosper so much when they profane the Lord's Day by working. It is the general practice of Christians to refrain from Sunday work for material gain. They choose work in which they can be free on Sunday to worship and honour God. Some Christians have not accepted advancement in their work, and others have refused certain work because it required them to work on the Lord's Day. God honours and blesses them for so doing. Those who keep the Lord's Day show that they prefer a communion with God and their duty to Him, before their own business. There are some occupations that require Sunday work. But is there not other work for a Christian?
Preparation
There is an account in the Bible where a man showed disrespect by gathering sticks on the Sabbath [NUM:15:32]). This man paid the penalty for his sin. He was put to death according to the word of the Lord. If this man had made the proper preparation, he would not have been gathering sticks on the holy day.
While the Children of Israel were journeying in the wilderness, the Lord sent manna to feed them and the Lord instructed them about preparing for the Sabbath so there would be no need of working on that day. The Children of Israel gathered the manna each morning because "when the sun waxed hot, it melted." For six mornings of the week the manna was found; but those who did not hearken unto the Lord and tried to gather on the seventh day found there was none. The Lord told them to gather on the sixth morning enough to last for two days, since the next day was a holy day. The Lord said, "Bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning" [EXO:16:23]).
To prepare for the holy day pleased the Lord. The manna kept very well and did not spoil when they gathered extra on the sixth morning; but any other time that they gathered more than enough for one day, the manna spoiled and worms grew in it.
When one makes preparation and plans for observing Sunday, there is usually no occasion to do that, which would show disrespect. Christians make provision for Sunday by having the home, food, clothes, yard, and car in order ahead of time. Sunday is not the day in which to do all the odd jobs around the home. Children should see that their chores are done ahead of time when it is possible. When it is impossible, this does not excuse them from doing their work, or from being helpful, or from keeping themselves tidy. Keeping the Lord's Day holy does not make one lazy, for he is busy in the Lord's work.
A Blessing
There were many blessings -" peace, plenty, safety, and the presence of the Lord -" if the Children of Israel obeyed God's commandments, which included keeping the Sabbath and reverencing the Lord's sanctuary [LEV:26:2]). Besides these blessings, the promise was given that God's people would be exalted and would receive an inheritance if they delighted themselves in the Sabbath. They would find pleasures in obedience if they honoured the Lord in His own way and spoke His words rather than their own [ISA:58:13-14]). When a person really loves and obeys God, his greatest pleasure is in the Lord's service. Sunday is a good time to start the study of the next Sunday School lesson and memory verse.
Some people seem to think that Sunday is the day, which is their own, a day in which they may do as they please. They make Sunday a day of recreation and boisterous play, with no thought of God.
Buying and Selling
The Lord put great stress upon the due observance of the Sabbath. Everything done was for the glory of God. It has been said that next to idolatry there was no other sin for which the Jews were more frequently reproved than for profaning the Sabbath. During the days of Nehemiah there was an example of the Children of Israel's, being reproved for dishonouring the Sabbath.
Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to help the Children of Israel rebuild the wall about the city, after their enemies had destroyed it. Nehemiah found that the Children of Israel were showing dishonour to the Sabbath Day. They permitted the harvesting of crops and the hauling of loads of produce into the city on the Sabbath. They probably thought that their crops had to be harvested when they were ripe, but the people needed to be reminded of the world of the Lord: "Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest" [EXO:34:21]).
Some of the Children of Israel were merchants. They made their living by buying and selling. Perhaps they did not have their stores open but the Israelites were buying on the Sabbath from the men of Tyre who brought their fish into the city. Maybe the Children of Israel were not doing their work on the Sabbath but they caused others to work, and they dishonoured the day by buying victuals and "all manner of wares" [NEH:13:15-16]). Nehemiah reproved the Children of Israel and asked, "What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?" Nehemiah did more than reprove, he closed the gates of the city and set guards "that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day." When the merchants and sellers loitered around outside the city, he sent them away and threatened to "lay hands" on them.
As in the days of Nehemiah, Christians today make a practice of doing no business on Sunday. They plan ahead and do not buy, sell, or pay bills on Sunday, because it is unnecessary and dishonourable to God.
Jewish Teachers
There is a curse pronounced upon those who add to as well as to those who take from the words of God [PRO:30:6]; [REV:22:18-19]). Some of the Jewish teachers were too strict about keeping the fourth commandment. They enlarged and added to the word of the Lord. This happened when Jesus was here upon earth. One day as Jesus and His disciples walked through the cornfield, they were hungry; so they picked and ate corn. They were seen and criticised by the Pharisees, who complained because they had done so on the Sabbath. They did not object to the picking of the corn in another's field, because they were permitted to eat in a neighbour's field so long as they did not put a sickle to the grain or put grapes in a container to take home [DEU:23:24-25]). The Pharisees thought that Jesus and His disciples had shown disrespect for the Sabbath. They did pluck and eat the corn, but it was out of necessity. Jesus taught that one was not guilty of profaning the Sabbath when he did acts of mercy and necessity on the Sabbath. Jesus gave examples to show that necessity rendered a person innocent of dishonouring God. Was not David guiltless when, out of necessity, he ate the shewbread which was intended for the priests only [1SM:21:6]; [MAK:2:25-26])? Were not the priests who worked on the Sabbath blameless because they performed their duty of killing the sacrifices for the worship in the Temple [NUM:28:9-10])?
Jesus told the Pharisees that they did not know the Word of the Lord or they would not have condemned those who were not guilty. The Pharisees were careful to keep a part of the Lord's commandments but they overlooked other parts. The Pharisees remembered the feasts and sacrifices, but they showed little or no mercy. The Lord told the Children of Israel through the Prophet Hosea that He desired mercy, and not sacrifice, and He desired them to have knowledge of God more than burnt sacrifices [HOS:6:6]). God required His people to "do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly" with God [MIC:6:8]). This meant doing these things not only on the Sabbath but every day of the week, and the Pharisees were failing to do them.
When the Pharisees asked Jesus if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. He answered, "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days" [MAT:12:12]). Jesus reminded them that they would work to get one of their sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath. Then how much better is a man than a sheep that one would show mercy on the Sabbath?
In these days when many people show no respect for God and the Lord's Day, the danger for most people is not in being too strict, as the Pharisees were, but in being too lax. Let us, as Christians, be examples to others by keeping the Lord's Day holy.
Questions
1. What is the Lord's Day?
2. What is the Christian's day of rest and worship?
3. How do we keep the Lord's Day holy?
4. What does a Christian do on Sunday?
5. What does he not do on Sunday?
6. What day is dedicated to the honour and glory of God?
7. How can one prepare for Sunday?
8. What pleasure can one find on Sunday?
9. What can a child do on Sunday that will honour the Lord?
10. What did Jesus mean when He said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath"?